Oscar films a big draw, but cine buffs prefer Torrent over plexes

KOLKATA: Is Kolkata watching Oscar-winning films at theatres or via pen drives? If Monday morning’s social media updates are to be believed, this city has a huge interest in the Oscars with people having informed opinions about all nominated movies. But, multiplexes reveal that the response to them at theatres is just “moderate”. Torrent proxy sites are still the movie-goer’s best friend with Amazon and Netflix turning second favourites.
Subhasis Ganguli, regional director (east), INOX, said, “At our internal meetings, we are told that they do well in other centres, especially Bangalore. But in Kolkata the overall English movie market is not as big as it was ten years ago. However, the sci-fi and the franchises do well,” Ganguli said.
According to him, there were not many takers for even the Oscar-winning ‘Coco’ in Kolkata. ‘Dunkirk’ was the only Oscar winner that did well. Though Facebook had an overwhelming number of posts on ‘The Post’, its box-office figures in Kolkata was nothing to write home about. “We recently released ‘The Shape of Water’ and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’. Till Monday, there had been a moderate response, though the Oscar news might generate more footfalls,” Ganguli said.
Jadavpur University alumnus Mahadyuti Adhikary, who has watched all the Oscar-nominated movies and also analysed the merits of the winners on social media, admits that the torrent proxy sites have been his saviour. Two months ago, he watched ‘The Shape of Water’ and ‘Three Billboards…’. But these movies hit Kolkata theatres only recently. “Art should be free. The films that release on time, coinciding with the worldwide release, can be watched in theatres. For the rest, cinephiles always rely on torrent proxy sites. Who would wait so long for them to release?” argued Adhikary, a block development officer in Purulia.
Graphic designer Ekta Bhattacharjee said, “Besides theatres, I watch movies on Amazon Prime or Netflix. But I know many who download films and share them via pendrives. They never go to theatres.”
Advertising professional Sugato Guha, who insists on watching movies at theatres, understands that he is in the minority. “Kolkata was once the capital for English movie releases in India. Because of economic considerations, the number of releases has dwindled. The previous government’s decision to abolish English in primary education also had its effects.”